Theodore Edward Cantor () (1809–1860) was a Danish

physician A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the Medical education, study, Med ...

zoologist Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the structure, embryology, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct, and how they interact with their ecosystems. Zoology is one ...

and

botanist Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

. He described several new species of

reptiles Reptiles, as commonly defined, are a group of tetrapods with an ectothermic metabolism and Amniotic egg, amniotic development. Living traditional reptiles comprise four Order (biology), orders: Testudines, Crocodilia, Squamata, and Rhynchocepha ...

and

amphibians Amphibians are ectothermic, anamniote, anamniotic, tetrapod, four-limbed vertebrate animals that constitute the class (biology), class Amphibia. In its broadest sense, it is a paraphyletic group encompassing all Tetrapod, tetrapods, but excl ...

, and six species have been named in his honor. Cantor was born to a Danish Jewish family; his mother was a sister of

Nathaniel Wallich Nathaniel Wolff Wallich (28 January 1786 – 28 April 1854) was a surgeon and botanist of Danish origin who worked in India, initially in the Danish settlement near Calcutta and later for the Danish East India Company and the British East Indi ...

. Cantor worked for the

British East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...

, and made natural history collections in

Penang Penang is a Malaysian state located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia along the Strait of Malacca. It has two parts: Penang Island, where the capital city, George Town, is located, and Seberang Perai on the Malay Peninsula. Th ...

and

Malacca Malacca (), officially the Historic State of Malacca (), is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state in Malaysia located in the Peninsular Malaysia#Other features, southern region of the Malay Peninsula, facing the Strait of Malacca ...

Career

Cantor was the first Western scientist to describe the

Siamese fighting fish The Siamese fighting fish (''Betta splendens''), commonly known as the betta, is a freshwater fish native to Southeast Asia, namely Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam. It is one of 76 species of the genus '' Bet ...

. In the scientific field of

herpetology Herpetology (from Ancient Greek ἑρπετόν ''herpetón'', meaning "reptile" or "creeping animal") is a branch of zoology concerned with the study of amphibians (including frogs, salamanders, and caecilians (Gymnophiona)) and reptiles (in ...

he described many new species of

and

. Species first described by Cantor include '' Bungarus bungaroides'' (1839), '' Bungarus lividus'' (1839), '' Channa argus'' (1842), '' Elaphe rufodorsata'' (1842), '' Euprepiophis mandarinus'' (1842), '' Hippocampus comes'' (1850), '' Lycodon effraenis'' (1847), '' Misgurnus anguillicaudatus'' (1842), '' Naja atra'' (1842), '' Oligodon albocinctus'' (1839), '' Oligodon cyclurus'' (1839), '' Ophiophagus hannah'' (1836), '' Oreocryptophis porphyracea'' (1839), '' Pareas monticola'' (1839), '' Protobothrops mucrosquamatus'' (1839), '' Ptyas dhumnades'' (1842), and '' Trimeresurus erythrurus'' (1839). The snake genus ''Cantoria'' with the type species '' Cantoria violacea'' (Cantor's water snake) is named in Cantor's honour, as are '' Acanthodactylus cantoris'' (Indian fringe-fingered lizard), '' Elaphe cantoris'' (eastern trinket snake), '' Hydrophis cantoris'' (Cantor's small-headed sea snake), '' Pelochelys cantorii'' (Cantor's giant softshell turtle), and '' Trimeresurus cantori'' (Cantor's pit viper).

Publications

* ''Notes respecting some Indian fishes'' (1839) * * * * * * *

Taxa described by him

*See :Taxa named by Theodore Edward Cantor

Cantor Lectures

A bequest made by Cantor to the

Society of Arts The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, commonly known as the Royal Society of Arts (RSA), is a learned society that champions innovation and progress across a multitude of sectors by fostering creativity, s ...

in London was applied to the founding of a lecture series on industrial applications of science. It began with talks in 1863, and became known as the Cantor Lectures.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cantor, Theodore Edward 1809 births 1860 deaths 19th-century Danish zoologists Jewish Danish scientists